The Now or Never Kind

“How soon can you be in New York?”

I bounced on my bed, grinning at the suitcase I had already packed. Having abandoned studying for my last AP tests, I whipped out my phone—still not a Sidekick because I refused to give into the trend—and attended to more important matters. Like making sure my best friend got out of Chicago.

“For the immortal eighteen?” Beth asked, “I’ll be there as of two day ago!”

I chuckled, kicking my feet up and stretching. “Time travel will not be necessary,” I notified her. “Just be there on Friday; our flight lands at 15.30 at JFK, which should give us time to not look dead before we party it up.”

She paused on the other line. “Dammit, you know I hate military time.”

“Three-thirty,” I laughed.

“Righto. I can’t believe you’re taking that stupid test on your birthday, Rhiannon.”

I shrugged; I had a strange sense of priority a lot of the time. “Yeah, I kind of suck like that,” I agreed.

Beth laughed. “No comment,” she decided. I rolled my eyes. We have dirty minds. “Happy early birthday, darling.”

A few minutes later, just as I turned on my brother’s Wii, my phone rang. “Are you done studying yet?” Jesse asked before I even had the chance to greet him.

I scoffed in laughter, throwing myself onto the couch. “Si, Trill,” I replied. “Ho finito a studiare.”

“Sick.” From the other side of the house I heard the front door open and closed; I rolled my eyes when I heard greetings to my parents, and soon my boys appeared, quickly making themselves comfortable.

“Matt, get off of me!” I groaned, trying to shove him off. Sean and Jesse, being of slightly sounder minds, sat in chairs and did not lie on top of me.

Matt grinned down at me. “Get off on you? Well if you say so.” The rest of quickly yelled No!, causing him to cackle. “I’m just kidding. But seriously, you’re taking up the whole c—” Thud. “Ow!”

Jesse snickered, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. “You asked for it.”

I stood, planting a foot on Matt’s chest and holding the Wiimote aloft. “I claim this drummer in the name of… well, me,” I proclaimed, losing my thunder a bit at the end. Matt grabbed my ankle and dumped me back onto the couch before bouncing up beside me.

“’ow’s it feel t’be almost legal, Pen?” Sean asked, taking up a controller.

“Ugh, I just want it to be Friday already,” I said, knocking a piece of hair out of my face, allowing me to see something other than red. “Forget family, forget friends in California, I cannot wait to be the youngest person to get into that club without a fake ID.”

Jesse grinned, eyes focused on his little avatar trying to bowl a strike. “I’m sure all the people staying here will be ecstatic to hear that.”

“They’ll get over it,” Matt said. “I mean, Aibhlin and Tyrnan will kill us if they hear about you getting wasted. In New York. On your birthday. Surrounded by guys. Tall, hot, talented musician guys. Some of whom want to sleep with you.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “You are not helping your case,” I pointed out. “I don’t think my brothers even know we’re leaving the state.”

“Let’s keep it tha’ way, yeah?”

The next day, after all the annoyance of class—and through the moments of nostalgia that this was one of my last days of high school—I went home, getting followed by some of my friends, and had cake and presents for dinner. No really, Loraine’s mom gave me a box of biscotti. Family came and went, bringing more presents and well-wishes and leaving us young people to screw around in the hot tub.

For the record, eleven is far too many people for a hot tub. Especially when four of them are over six feet.

Luckily I was already awake Friday morning when my phone rang. Despite the specific ringtone, I still probably would have been in a bad mood. “Isn’t it a bit early for you to be up?” I asked, smiling at my half-eaten toast.

“I wanted to wish you a happy birthday before you disappeared from the west coast,” he yawned. “But yes, it is.” I laughed softly, imaging him sitting in his house all sleepy and bed-headed. “I miss you, and I wish I could be there.”

“Me too, Ryan.” I smiled sadly and twirled my spoon in my mug. It was no longer strange to me that the person I gave the title of boyfriend was someone after whom thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of girls lusted: Ryan Ross. I had met a lot of those girls, and hadn’t the heart to tell them, lest they try to kill me and take my powers. “But you’re coming for graduation.”

“That’s still another week and a half. I miss you now.”

I grinned, finishing of my breakfast. “The fates have given mankind a patient soul, and patience, my dear George, is the companion of wisdom.” I put my mug and plate in the sink and grabbed my bag from my chair. “Now go back to bed and get up at a more reasonable hour.”

“You’re awake,” he pointed out.

“I’m a creature outside of reason.” Ryan laughed sleepily, and a smile spread across my lips. “Thank you, Ryan. I love you.”

“I love you too. Go kick ass.”

“Always do.”

I’m sure my classmates taking the test with me thought I was being raped, since I was the first person out of the room and none of them saw Jesse tackle me. “Happy fucking Birthday!” he yelled, spinning me around. I clung to him, hoping the noise that came out of my mouth didn’t sound as girly as I thought it did.

“Stop hogging her!” Matt whined, stamping his foot on the concrete. “I want to do inappropriate things to her now that she’s legal too!”

I quickly diverted to Butch Cassidy, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Save me?”

He grinned. “Happy Birthday,” Sean said calmly, giving me a hug. “Now c’mon. We’ve got a flight to catch.”

Flying was nothing foreign to me, and I rather enjoyed it, despite the many, many hours I spent in airports and cramped into tiny seats. I do hate airplane seats. Except when your manager’s boyfriend buys you first class tickets and a room in a hotel in New York for your birthday. I didn’t mind them so much then.

Somehow—it always remained a mystery to me—nobody seemed to notice four people, with an average height of six-foot-two, all wearing hats, hoods, and or sunglasses strolling off a plane. We always seemed to manage to get through the airport without getting a single person coming up to us; outside of the airport was another story, though.

I can’t help myself sometimes though. “Aromi!” I squealed, launching myself at the tall, handsome Italian man I spotted waiting. A smile spread across his face just before he caught me, spinning around as my limbs wrapped around him. I beamed down at him, feeling unusually high off the ground.

“You may be legal, Penangela,” he said, laughing warmly, “But I’m still not sexually attracted to your gender.”

I pouted, jumping down. “Well, that’s no fun. Here I am, all excited for be—holy shit!” I exclaimed, feeling myself getting tackled.

Matt laughed, leaning on our manager’s shoulder. “Ange, you appear to have a hot blonde squeezing you to death,” he pointed out helpfully.

Grinning again I hugged my assailant, who glared at Matt. “Can it, Lawrie,” she ordered flippantly. “I’ll get to you in a minute.” She returned to squeezing me. “Congratulations on joining the rest of us in the adult world. Now we can really cause some damage.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Beth. I fear for New York this weekend.” I turned to argue with Aero about him trying to steal my bag—chivalry be damned; I can get my own carry-on—while Beth proceeded to greet my band. With a defeated sigh, I let the bag be tugged from my grip and circled just in time to see Jesse and Beth lock lips. Ahem, I mean, tastefully kiss in public.

Sean stepped away from them as Matt gagged. Aromi rolled his eyes at him. “Shut up, they’re cute,” he chided, smiling. Both Jesse and Beth raised a hand and gave us the one-finger salute. I buried my face in Aero’s shoulder, dying of laughter. “…Okay, that’s too cute. Let’s get your luggage.”

After a few feet an arm linked with mine. “Like you’re any better with Mister Wannabe Model,” Beth scoffed, falling in stride with me. “Speaking of, where is the little bugger?”

“Somewhere in the Midwest.” I sighed lightly. “Stupid Honda Civic Tour, dragging the boyfriend away to help save the world.”

“All the more fun to have without him?” Aero offered, smiling innocently.

I gave him a disparaging smile. “Don’t tempt me,” I said flatly. “You’re supposed to be the responsible one this weekend.”

“Nuh uh!” Jesse protested as we stopped by the luggage carousel. “That’s Charlie’s job.”

“Getting our car,” Aero answered the question Matt opened his mouth to ask. “After we get your bags, we’re going to hotel, getting un-travel-grossed, and then going to dinner.”

“An’ then to th'bar,” Sean said, grinning mischievously.

Beth rolled her pale blue eyes. “Just because you’re legally allowed to drink doesn’t mean you can wave it in our faces.”

Matt slung an arm over her shoulder. “Babe, that’s what fake IDs are for,” he reminded, smiling suavely. He grunted when Beth elbowed him in the ribs. The pair had never really gotten along as well as others; something to do with kneeing Matt in the stones upon meeting him.

At least they didn’t yell. Anymore.

“No, really,” Jesse said, tugging my suitcase up, “That’s Pete’s birthday present to Pen.”

Beth blinked, frowning slightly. “He’s letting her into the bar he owns underage so she can get molested by doubtless the countless musicians who will be there… as a gift?” She scoffed. “There’s something wrong with that child.”

I stared at her blankly. “You’re great for making me nervous, you know that?”

She beamed. “’S what I’m here for, darling.”

I don’t know what I was expecting when I heard Charlie was getting a car, taking into account that there were now seven of us, including Charlie and my blonde Chicagoan darling. A van was so low out of Charlie’s league it was laughable to consider, and an SUV went against several members of the group’s morals.

I knew it would be black though, which it was. There was no other colour when it came to riding in style. Particularly if it’s a limo you’re riding in. Which we were.

“Buon compleanno, princepessa,” Charlie greeted, kissing my cheek. He glanced at the boys, loading luggage into the trunk, and smiled at Beth. “Ciao, Elisabetta. Come stai?”

Beth grinned. “I’m very well, you handsome devil,” she replied. Charlie opened the back door for us, and we climbed in before the guys, settling between Sean and Jesse. I studied Charlie as Aromi drove to our hotel for the weekend: usually Charlie was what most people thought of when they thought of Italian men—tall, dark-haired, olive-skinned, achingly handsome, and serious in his crisp expensive suits. Today, however, he fit in easily with the rest of us, though on a higher scale: designer jeans, vintage t-shirt, classy pinstripe blazer.

The world is unfair to all womankind to let not one but two tall, Italian men that sexy to be devoutly gay. Not that anyone knew Charlie was gay. Or even suspected.

I wanted to go skipping into the hotel, dance aroundin the fountain, and run singing up to my room. I settled for letting Matt carry me on his back while Aero carried my bags, because apparently we had to maintain a certain level of decorum for reputation’s sake. Fuck that; I wanted to party.

“You have no idea how annoying this was to bring,” Beth groaned, heaving a huge ribboned box onto the bed. I turned from the view from our hotel room balcony—it was nowhere near dark but the city still had a perverse beauty to it—and frowned curiously at the box. She grinned. “Happy Birthday, Angie.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” I protested, eying it. It was one of those really fancy boxes that expensive department stores wrap gifts in.

She rolled her eyed and nudged me towards it. “Who cares? I got it and you’re opening it.” I smiled, shaking my head, and restrained myself from tearing the box to shreds. My grin widened, as I pulled out the floaty black tunic covered in swirling designs in white and metallic gold; beneath it were a pair of skinny jeans with buttons down the front and from the knee down and a pair of red, patented leather heels.

“This…” I twirled around, holding the shirt to me and watching it spin, and grinned up at her. “This is hot. I can do some damage in this.”

“That was the idea,” Beth laughed, strolling to her suitcase. “Tonight would be a good opportunity. Celebration, after all, and Wentz is involved. So yeah, do some damage.”